Congrats on your new home! Now you just have to figure out how you’re going to pack and move everything without breaking the bank, your fragile lamp, or your back. Good thing we put together this list of 11 easy moving and packing tips that will make your move dead simple.
How do we know these tips will make your move dead simple?
We asked expert movers, packers, and professional organizers to share their best tips.
So sit back, grab a snack, and dive in!
1. Get rid of everything.
Okay, maybe not everything, but the more unused and unnecessary items you eliminate from your home, the less stuff you’ll have to pack up, haul across town, unload, and organize.
Certified professional organizer Ellen Delap recommends clearing any clutter from your home as soon as you know you’ll be moving.
Be ruthless with your stuff. That coat you think is cute but haven’t worn in four months? Donate it.
The very first coffee maker you ever bought that flavors your morning brew with little pieces of rust? Trash it.
Doing a massive preliminary purge will have the single biggest impact on the efficiency and ease of your entire packing process.
2. Sort things by category.
Take a cue from Marie Kondo and organize your belongings by category, not by room (note that the category part only applies to the organization process, not the unpacking — that’s a whole separate ordeal).
Instead of spending a day cleaning out your entire bedroom, spend an afternoon sorting through every article of clothing you own.
Scour every coat closet, dirty clothes hamper, and laundry room until you’ve got all your clothes in one place. Then sort.
Do the same thing for books, shoes, important papers, and the like.
Free Bonus: Download our step-by-step KonMari Cheat Sheet so you can easily organize everything in your home just like Marie Kondo.
3. Schedule a free donation pickup.
Save yourself a trip to your local Goodwill and schedule a MakeSpace pickup. In addition to picking up and storing practically anything (including furniture), we’ll also pick up your donation and drop it off to Goodwill — at no extra charge.
Pro Tip: If you’d like to donate to a different charity, check out our guide on where to donate your old clothes, books, furniture, toys, and more.
All you have to do is put your giveaway items in boxes and leave them on your doorstep.
The good men and women of Donation Town will then pick up your stuff and deliver it to a local charity of your choice.
4. Set aside stuff to sell.
You probably have a few items you no longer want, but would love to get a little money for. If that’s the case, set these items aside and determine where you can sell them.
If it’s furniture, Craigslist or AptDeco might be your best bet. If it’s brand name clothing, you could try Poshmark or a local consignment store.
For specialty items like a gently used Coach purse or your collection of 90’s Beanie Babies, get on eBay.
Once you have everything sorted, set a date on your calendar to visit the nearest Buffalo Exchange or craft descriptions of the items you plan to sell online.
5. Research professional moving companies.
Research is never fun. Yelp and Google will overwhelm you with the sheer volume of choices for household moving companies to hire, but don’t give in to the pressure and pick the first four-star rating you see.
A moving company can often make or break your entire moving experience, so it’s important to get it right. The more effort you put into finding a reputable company with excellent customer service ahead of time, the less hassle you’ll have on moving day.
Lift NYC recommends double-checking that the moving company you want to hire is licensed with the state you’re in.
“There are tens of thousands of people claiming to be a ‘moving company’ when in actuality it’s just some guy with a van trying to make some extra money,” says Mike Sulkowska of Lift NYC.
Make sure to read the company’s list of services, fine print, and refund or damage policies, too. For example, some companies don’t lift items that aren’t in boxes (so your stuffed-to-the-brim duffel bags won’t make the cut), while others ask for full payment several weeks early.
Find out the specifics so there are no unwelcome surprises come moving day.
Pro Tip: Use Unpakt to find trustworthy moving companies, compare prices, and book your move online in minutes.
6. Pick the right moving day.
Hire your movers at least a month out so you can plan accordingly. If you have a flexible schedule, play around with potential moving dates and try to find the cheapest time of month to make an appointment.
Moving companies are busiest on weekends, so if you can skip the Saturday chaos and schedule your move for a Tuesday, you might get a significant discount.
7. Map out the best way to get to your new home.
Whether you’re moving to NYC, across the country, across state lines, or just to a neighboring town, you’re going to need an efficient travel route so you don’t waste your move-in day sitting in gridlock traffic or pulling over three different times to type an address into your GPS.
Figure out the easiest, most efficient way to get where you’re going. Look up potential highway construction schedules ahead of time. And take traffic, detours, and necessary stops into account when you’re making your plan.
8. Create a master moving to-do list
When you move homes, you inevitably end up having 600 different things to do and remember. Don’t let all these tasks and important reminders, no matter how seemingly obvious, slip your mind.
Write them down somewhere. Put them in the Notes app on your phone, in the to-do list app Wunderlist that professional organizer Anna Bauer recommends, or go old-school with a giant yellow legal pad.
No detail is too insignificant. You just remembered the name of the little bookstore in town that will accept your used novels? Write it down.
Not sure which novels to donate? Here’s how to decide what books to keep or get rid of.
You stuck that extra screw from the broken drawer next to the sink? Take note.
You have to return your cable box to your provider at least one day before you leave? Jot it down.
9. Put moving tasks on your calendar.
Take your organization a step further and spend an evening mapping out everything you have to do. Get an oversized calendar and mark the empty white boxes with important daily tasks to prepare for your move.
Tuesday: Call moving company.
Wednesday: Sort through toiletries.
Thursday: Buy new sheets.
An added bonus to using the calendar method is that breaking up your tasks by day makes them seem more manageable. Also, don’t forget to add “celebrate with wine” somewhere in there to give you something to look forward to.
10. Get moving boxes from your local liquor store.
Pay a visit to your local liquor store (that’s where you can buy the aforementioned wine) to see if they recycle their used boxes. If so, ask if you can grab a handful so you’re saving a little paper in your moving journey.
Just make sure the boxes are very gently worn and that you only use them to hold lightweight items like linens and towels. You don’t want to deal with ripped boxes and broken valuables on the big day.
11. Check to see if you have original boxes for your electronics.
You might think your flat screen TV could withstand a 30-minute drive across town in a cardboard box, but alas, it’s a fragile piece of technology. The best way to transport your electronics is in the original boxes they arrived in when you purchased them.
Check to see if you stashed these boxes somewhere — attic? Garage? If you don’t have them, make a list of what you’ll need to buy or borrow to properly cushion your stuff.
Quilted blankets, bubble wrap, and sturdy tape all work well to protect TVs and similarly delicate items.
Free Bonus: We asked the best moving companies to share their top packing tips. Learn all of them here.
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